With Zion injured, his draft stock may also hurt

After the injury he suffered days ago, have we seen the last of him at Duke?

John Laforest
Staff Writer

While the NBA is inching closer and closer to the NBA playoffs, there’s another thing to keep track of over the next couple of months, and that’s which team ends up drafting Zion Williamson out of Duke after the injury he suffered days ago?

The 6’7” ft, 280 lb phenomenon has been put in front of comparisons between him and LeBron James due to his freak-like athletic gifts ever since freshman year of high school.

Seconds into a matchup against well-known rival North Carolina, Zion ripped through his shoe and landed awkwardly. 

Zion left the game and has still not returned to action following the fall. 

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday there is no timetable for Williamson’s return from a grade 1 knee sprain. The team has played three total games since the departure of their star and have a record of 1-2 in those games.

Krzyzewkski has also noticed the differences in paly since the star player went down especially after a hard fought lost to Virgina Tech.

“Against Syracuse, they played zone, and it really didn’t matter that we didn’t have a second big,” Krzyzewski said. “Once we started the game [versus Virginia Tech], it was obvious we weren’t getting our normal movements offensively and defensively, because they’re accustomed to Zion being down there. We had to make some adjustments.”

Zion is currently slated as a top-3 pick according to the ESPN mock draft. Top-3 pick means Williamson will be in the lottery which guarantees him millions his first year in the NBA. For years there have been talks from not only professional athletes, former college players and even musicians like Jay-Z expressing their displeasure of college athletes not being compensated.

The main argument for why players should get paid is that the NCAA has are making billions of dollars’ worth of revenue each year from some of the most popular sports that we love to watch. The players that are putting their physical health on the line and are not seeing a suitable financial reward.

The other side may argue, well Williamson is getting paid. He gets a full-ride scholarship to arguably one of the best schools in the country. 

Zion gets to travel the country for free and go places other students might not have the opportunity to go.

Zion’s stock has risen immensely since playing for Duke with all his talents on display. If he were to stop playing, his stock might fall, which affects his finances on the next level. College basketball is an opportunity for Zion to improve his overall skill set and become a better player if he stops playing now it’s hard to say how much better he can get. 

Feature photo courtesy of the Associated Press.